The 1893 World’s Fair has attained almost mythical proportions in Chicago. Yet that huge fair was motivated, at least in part, by the same thing that motivates those shows that take over McCormick Place today.

The Chicago Field Museum is offering early retirement packages for some of its employees. The museum, best known for its plant and animal research and Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex, is shouldering a heavy debt burden and has been trying to find ways to cut back.

Despite its many exaggerated features, one crucial plot point of Tarantino’s Django Unchained is drawn from real life: the lengths real slaves would go to in order to stay with or be reunited with their loved ones.